Luxury stores including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci and Prada are temporarily closing in Russia amid the continued invasion of Ukraine and resulting Western sanctions.
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE will temporarily close its 124 stores in Russia from Sunday, the industry-leading group told Reuters on Friday.
Meanwhile, Gucci owner Kering, Parisian fashion house Chanel and Swiss group Richemont all said on their LinkedIn pages on Friday that they had suspended or were going to suspend operations in Russia.
French luxury company Hermes International SCA posted a similar message on its LinkedIn page earlier today. Italian Prada announced on Sunday that it would suspend retail operations in Russia.
Kering has announced that it is temporarily closing its stores in Russia for homes the group operates directly in the country. Kering’s main brand, Gucci, operates 13 stores in Russia, according to its website, including nine in the capital Moscow.
Chanel said it would do the same and had already suspended e-commerce operations there, highlighting concerns and uncertainty about the situation and the complexity of operations.
Cartier owner Richemont said it stopped operations in Ukraine on February 24 and in Russia on March 3.
“We will continue to monitor developments and adapt our measures accordingly,” Richemont said.
Hermès said it was deeply concerned about the situation in Europe, and would temporarily close its stores in Russia from Friday evening, halting all commercial activity in the country. Hermes operates three stores in Russia, all in Moscow, according to its website. The five companies said via LinkedIn that they would continue to support their local teams in Russia.
The decision to pull out of Russia comes after Bloomberg reported last week that wealthy Russians were investing in jewelry and luxury watches to preserve the value of their savings as Western sanctions crush the ruble and hold the stock market down. closed. The chief executive of jeweler LVMH Bulgari told the outlet that the sanctions appeared to have boosted the brand’s business in Russia in the short term, although he noted that restrictions on Russia’s access to international financial tools could make difficult to export to the country.
None of the companies indicated the expected financial impact of halting their operations in Russia. However, analysts have estimated that the luxury sector as a whole makes less than 5% of its total revenue in Russia, and that the biggest risk comes from a broader economic slowdown and declining confidence. consumers as a result.
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